Suicidal thoughts in response to this news is really concerning. From what I understand, you aren't being personally affected by this news. Go take care of yourself. Touch grass or do whatever you need to do.
I think it will help to have a broader perspective. The US spends over $1 trillion each year on violence. When the bombs stop, then profits drop, and this is not acceptable to the capitalist class. When we stopped spending $60bln in Afghanistan, we instantly started spending $60bln in Ukraine. Now Ukraine is winding down, we will spend it on Venezuela. After that, Panama? Greenland? Cuba? Mexico? This cycle will continue until the military industrial complex is dismantled. That is unlikely to happen in our lifetimes.
You are on the ethically correct side, and that matters. I find inspiration in the many generations of people who fought against slavery in the US. So many people, so many generations fought to end slavery, and most did not live to see the successful end. We must continue to fight, even if we do not see success in our lifetimes, we lay the groundwork for future generation's success. We owe it to them.
And if you do choose to end yourself, I respect your bodily autonomy, but please make sure you are of sound mind when you make that very serious decision. And consider following in the holy footsteps of Saint Luigi of Baltimore.
Why would they sell? US bonds are welfare for rich people; it's a guaranteed solid ROI that underwrites their riskier investments.
I think it would take a crash of the global financial system to fundamentally change the logic of the bond market. We haven't seen a crash that devastating since WWII.
You're really begging for downvotes with this comment, but I'm curious: how do you see this situation playing out? Do you think a couple steps ahead, or just react?
My guess is that is going to go like this:
Trump admin tries to install Machado as US puppet government in Venezuela.
Mass popular uprising from the Venezuelan people, significant violence, attempts at deposing or assassinating Machado.
US boots on the ground to prop up Machado regime.
-or-
US abandons Venezuela project, leaving devastation and chaos behind.
I think most billionaires are not paying either of those taxes in any significant amounts.
Most follow the buy borrow die method. Then their children just have to pay estate tax.
Advanced tax cheats like Bill Gates take it one step further by creating their own charities. You give all your money to the "charity" and give your kids full control of the "charity". This way you can avoid paying estate tax, and you only need to give away a tiny percentage of your wealth to actual charities and PR firms to save face.
The leaders of the New Atheist movement are not heroes; they are certainly imperfect. I agree with all of your criticisms, but you say nothing of the bulk of their work.
Hitchens' God is Not Great will stand the test of time; his Islamophobia will not.
Dawkins' The God Delusion is still correct, despite his late-in-life transphobia and "cultural Christianity".
Suicidal thoughts in response to this news is really concerning. From what I understand, you aren't being personally affected by this news. Go take care of yourself. Touch grass or do whatever you need to do.
I think it will help to have a broader perspective. The US spends over $1 trillion each year on violence. When the bombs stop, then profits drop, and this is not acceptable to the capitalist class. When we stopped spending $60bln in Afghanistan, we instantly started spending $60bln in Ukraine. Now Ukraine is winding down, we will spend it on Venezuela. After that, Panama? Greenland? Cuba? Mexico? This cycle will continue until the military industrial complex is dismantled. That is unlikely to happen in our lifetimes.
You are on the ethically correct side, and that matters. I find inspiration in the many generations of people who fought against slavery in the US. So many people, so many generations fought to end slavery, and most did not live to see the successful end. We must continue to fight, even if we do not see success in our lifetimes, we lay the groundwork for future generation's success. We owe it to them.
And if you do choose to end yourself, I respect your bodily autonomy, but please make sure you are of sound mind when you make that very serious decision. And consider following in the holy footsteps of Saint Luigi of Baltimore.